A powerful blender

We needed a new blender, and since I had such good luck with their old design, went with Kitchenaid again, only to find out this model has a substantially stronger motor, something us guys seem to notice first. I've had it for about a year now, and thought I'd share my results.

It is a simple tried and true design with a touch control pad that features a new crush ice button and their soft start control, which brings the blades up to speed moderately fast, instead of an explosion of liquid, with ingredients sprayed all over the inside of the jar not getting blended. The touch control pad is far superior to a push button or dial design, since it means there are less moving parts to wear out. Much easier to clean as well.

It also has their Intelli-Speed monitor, which adds more power when under load to keep the blades at the same RPM instead of letting them bog down. I noticed this when making milkshakes. I'd put about a cup of ice cream in with a little bit of milk and set it on the slowest setting. This thing would grunt it out, making a super thick milkshake without increasing speed at all(Mmm, I think I'll have one after this review!). It also crushes ice with ease and I haven't thrown anything at it yet that it struggled with, although I'm careful not to abuse my stuff.

The jar is not glass, which means it is much lighter and is bigger than their last design as well. The blades are built in, the bottom doesn't unscrew, which I thought might be harder to wash, but it's about even since you don't have to take it apart and put it together again. I'm an electrician, and I took the base apart to inspect the motor and inner workings. I was not disappointed, it's not overly complex with parts that can wear out. A simple and dependable approach to building a kitchen appliance is always better than bells and whistles that can cause problems.

Since I purchased this model, I've become aware of even more powerful models out there for $50 or $60 more, but for my needs this one is plenty strong, and why spend more for power you're not going to need? My experience with the old Kitchenaid has been repeated with this one, a durable blender that hasn't given me a hint of trouble and is a pleasure to use.